August 17, 2017

Rebirth of Nefast - Tabernaculum

By Bryan Camphire. Rebirth of Nefast is a one man black metal project from Iceland by way of Ireland. The band's debut long player, Tabernaculum, is thoroughly honed and expertly crafted. This should perhaps comes as no surprise

By Bryan Camphire.

Rebirth of Nefast is a one man black metal project from Iceland by way of Ireland. The band's debut long player, Tabernaculum, is thoroughly honed and expertly crafted. This should perhaps comes as no surprise considering that Rebirth of Nefast is the brain-child of the recording engineer who runs Studio Emissary in Reykjavik, Stephen Lockhart, who is responsible for the recordings of several seminal albums of the burgeoning black metal scene there. On Tabernaculum, Lockhart's perfectionism is on full display, pulling out all the stops throughout the entirety of this sinister release.

A strong sense of aesthetics pervades the record. It's clear that the production of these songs is every bit as premeditated as the songwriting. However, make no mistake, the fact that the album is highly polished never detracts from Tabernaculum's prevailing sense of menace. In an interview from 2015, Lockhart states,

...there is a small contingent within the Black metal scene who consider everything that does not sound like it was recorded in 1993 with 4-track recorder illegitimate. For me, where this argument falls completely short, is the idea of relying on poor production to provide atmosphere. If Black metal does not sound ‘dark’ or ‘evil’ when you can hear everything that is going on, then there is something seriously wrong with it.

To that point, Tabernaculum is certainly a work that takes full advantage of sophisticated studio techniques to set in place its thick aura of darkness and dread. The result is an album of modern black metal that sounds evil as mortal sin.

Each track is a world of detail, where even the faintest sounds in the background play a significant role in the overarching feeling of gloom. Barely audible keyboard patches cling to guitar tones like cobwebs on so many flying buttresses inside this haunted cathedral of music. Exactly how many guitar tracks are at play at any given moment on the record is deliberately obscured. The songs unfold like tapestries interwoven with magic and mystery.

The six tracks on Tabernaculum each hover around ten minutes in length. Every tune showcases dynamics. All cuts have both fast and slow sections. Many include quieter parts which make the heavier sections all the more striking. The vocals range from hoarse groans to hushed breathy murmurings. All this is cooked up in a black cauldron teeming with a piquant intoxicating fog. A malevolent and majestic offering, Tabernaculum sits on an infernal altar poised to quicken the circulation of your five litres of blood.